Pieces of the Puzzle
by Assassin Poma
Summary: Sabine meets the newest, and possibly greatest, threat to the Rebellion. AU. One-Shot, unless demand is high enough for an actual fic.
( **A little one shot Fanfiction I wrote for a contest. I did my best to keep these two in character, so I hope I was successful. I'm aware this might conflict with both EU and Disney Canon but the idea simply wouldn't go away. Enjoy.** )

"Who are you? Why am I here?"

Those were the first questions Sabine Wren asked the blue skinned, red eyed alien sitting in the command chair of the Imperial Star Destroyer they were both on.

The Ghost crew had been ambushed on a planet in the mid rim by this ship, and the tactics used by it's Captain, who just happened to be the alien in front of her. The stormtroopers and tie fighters on the surface came out of nowhere, using strategies and formations she had never seen or heard of in the academy. They must have been made by this alien.

Her hands were cuffed behind her back, and there were at least four stormtroopers surrounding her, two with their blasters aimed at her and the other two with blasters lowered but ready to move at a moments notice. She was trapped.

"I am Captain Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the Imperial Star Destroyer _Admonitor_. You may call me by my core name: Captain Thrawn. As to why you are here, I wish to speak with you." The alien, Thrawn, replied.

"Sorry, I don't like conversing with Imperials." Sabine replied. "Even if they look like they've been in a freezer for too long."

If Thrawn was offended by this statement, he didn't show it, instead he smirked in slight amusement. "Ah, I see you have heard and seen the Rebellion's propaganda against the Empire." He said. "Not surprising, seeing as how you are guilty of sympathizing with and assisting them."

Sabine bared her teeth in a sneer. "Only because you and your empire are ran by a tyrant."

Thrawn raised an eyebrow at her, before he smirked again, and stood up from his chair and approached her.

"I encounter civilians like you all the time. You believe the Empire is continually plotting to do harm. Let me tell you, your view of the Empire is far too dramatic. The Empire is a government. It keeps billions of beings fed and clothed. Day after day, year after year, on thousands of worlds people live their lives under Imperial rule without ever seeing a stormtrooper or hearing a TIE fighter scream overhead." He said. "I can understand your misconception of us, because you were raised on Mandalore and educated at the Imperial Academy there. Before you joined the Rebellion, and relocated to Lothal. Both planets having strategic value to the Empire. Mandalore for it's academies, and Lothal for it's shipyards, among other things." He added.

"The Empire has starved and terrorized countless innocent people!" Sabine growled.

"And the Rebellion has directly caused the Empire's citizens to go hungry, due to your raids on our supply runs, which also caused worlds under our control to be virtually undefended in areas where Piracy and Slavery run rampant due to the weapons meant to defend them being in the same shipment." Thrawn retorted. "Your Rebellion is responsible for the deaths and/or abductions of over 10 million citizens of the Empire."

Sabine's eyes widened. "No. We would never-" she started.

"Evidence proves to the contrary. One of your ships, a CR90 Corellian Corvette, directly attacked multiple Lamba-Class Imperial Shuttles making the deliveries, destroying them and leaving entire planets hungry and defenseless against pirate and/or slaver attack." Thrawn interrupted her. "Tell me, did the Rebellion even inform you of the consequences for your assaults? Or did they leave you in the dark about them and immediately whisk you off into another one?" He asked.

Sabine tried to make a retort, but all she could do was stare dumbfounded into space as the truth of the Captain's words sunk in.

"I will take the look on your face as the latter being the answer." Thrawn continued, before he started to circle her, examining her head to toe.

"I hear you are quite the artist, Sabine Wren." He said, jerking her out of her stupor. "You have made graffiti of the Rebellion's symbol, and other things, on many surfaces."

"Why would you care about art? You Imperials make every white, black, and grey." Sabine retorted.

"Ah, but you are mistaken, Sabine. The observation and study of art has been a hobby of mine for quite a few years." Thrawn said, moving to a console and typing a command into the keyboard, before a holographic image of Sabine's most recent graffiti appeared. "I find your art to be very good, despite your young age, and your limited experience in the field. Of course it has flaws, nearly all works of art have a flaw of some kind, but the flaws present in your pieces are not ones usually seen in beginners." He stated.

"Are you actually... Complimenting me?" Sabine asked, a little surprised.

"Yes. I am. While the subject of the art could be changed, the execution and display of it is, without question, extremely advanced for an artist of your age. You are very talented, Sabine. You should be proud. Few artists receive such a compliment from me." Thrawn said.

Sabine furrowed her eyebrows. "For some reason, I don't feel all that proud." She replied.

Thrawn merely shrugged his shoulders. "I do not care if you acknowledge my compliment. Only that you hear it." He replied.

"Why don't you just kill me now?" Sabine suddenly asked.

"Because, killing you would be counter-productive to my goal. As long as you are alive, your friends will want to rescue you, which will be their undoing." Thrawn replied.

"I'm bait." Sabine said, her eyes widening.

Thrawn turned and smiled at her. "Very good, Sabine, yes. You are only here to lure your Jedi friends into Lord Vader's clutches. And that is only the first piece to the puzzle." He said. "The second piece lays on your decision."

"Decision?" Sabine asked. "And what puzzle?"

"Yes. I am offering you a deal: You tell me the location of the Rebel Fleet, and in exchange, you receive whatever you wish within reason in return. Full amnesty and immunity from prosecution for your actions? Done. A chartered ship to outside Imperial territory? Yours. A way to return to the Imperial Academy on Mandalore and resume your training? Very well. You would know regardless of your choice of what to do after I release you that the citizens of the Empire would suffer no longer due to the Rebellion's actions, I'd make sure of it, even to my dying breath." Thrawn stated. "As for what puzzle, the only one worth solving, of course: The complete, total and utter destruction of the Rebellion."

Sabine thought hard for some time. She could just go now. Be free from the seemingly hopeless fight against the Empire. But then she remembered: Ezra, Zeb, Kanan, Hera, Chopper, Ahsoka, Rex... They would all die if she told him this.

"Never. I'll never tell you." She growled.

"As you wish. Lieutenant?" Thrawn asked.

A young man looked up from his display. "Yes, Captain?" He asked.

"Is the tracking device transmitting from the _Ghost_?" Thrawn asked. Sabine's heart skipped a beat.

"Yes sir, they appear to be oblivious to it's existence and are currently in Hyperspace." The human replied.

"Excellent." Thrawn replied. "Inform the Interdictor and Tartan Patrol Cruisers that the time to jump is drawing near."

"You... You..." Sabine couldn't even speak.

"I had a feeling you would not comply, so I ordered a stormtrooper to throw a tracking beacon onto your friend's ship before it escaped shortly after your capture that emits a signal previously unused by any device before it. Making it virtually undetectable by anyone not knowing the exact frequency of the transmission. Do not worry, I will make sure you are present when we attack and destroy your precious Rebellion." Thrawn said.

Sabine started to shed tears, before she tried to kick Thrawn, only resulting in him dodging the maneuver and the stormtrooper behind her to hit her in the back with the butt of his rifle, forcing her onto her knees with a yell.

"You're nothing but a monster." She sobbed.

"Perhaps. But in my experience, in order to catch the monsters, you must think like them. Take her away." Thrawn ordered.

Sabine was dragged back to her cell as the Captain sat back in his chair, her sobbing echoing in the hall before the door slid shut.


End file.
